#AzerbaijanGP FP1: @Max33Verstappen leads @ScuderiaFerrari pairing. #F1

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen topped the time-sheets in FP1 at the Azerbaijan GP ahead of Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

The Dutchman posted the fastest time in the opening hour session with ten minutes remaining on the clock as the drivers struggled with low grip on the Baku City Street Circuit.

McLaren’s Lando Norris was the first to hit the track, followed by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and soon more drivers emerged to make the most of the shortened practice running.

After a string of installation laps, Ferrari duo Sainz and Leclerc momentarily hit the top using the C3 white side-walled harder compounds, as the latter moved ahead of the Spaniard with a 1:45.664.

The pairing were soon ousted by Norris and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who ran Pirelli’s C5 red-marked softer tyres to post a 1:45.112 then a 1:43.893 just before the session was 20 minutes in.

Red Bull’s Verstappen then moved to second in the time-sheets and only two-tenths behind the Briton.

Drivers were slowly finding their confidence on the low-grip Baku Street Circuit, which saw it’s first on-track running in two years following the cancellation of last season’s event due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda was the first driver to bring out the yellow flags, running straight down into the turn four run-off area at the mid-way point in the hour long session.

Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel also took to the run-off area at the first corner after missing his braking point, while Hamilton, Sainz and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly also had similar excursions into turn 15.

In the second half, Norris and Leclerc found time to make up in the top three, Leclerc was only 0.028 seconds adrift of Hamilton and Norris on tenth adrift of the early benchmark.

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo then found his way into P1, setting a 1:43.732 whilst his team-mate Norris was on-course to going even quicker until the Briton spun at the final corner, managing to continue on after briefly sitting in the wrong direction.

Ferrari reclaimed the first two places with Leclerc posting a 1:43.227 and Sainz a 1:43.521 respectively.

After at first being held up from traffic, Verstappen finally set his flyer and jumped to the top with ten minutes remaining, a 1:43.184 stood as the benchmark to the end.

Verstappen’s Azerbaijan FP1 time-topping effort was 0.043 seconds faster than Leclerc and 0.337 seconds quicker than Sainz as the Scuderia look to confirm it’s strong Monaco pace in Baku despite predicting it would struggle on the 6.003km-long street circuit.

Perez benefited from Red Bull team-mate Verstappen’s slipstream to take fourth with a 1:43.630, one tenth faster than McLaren’s Ricciardo as the Australian showed some promise.

Gasly ended FP1 in sixth place and ahead of Hamilton (seventh), Norris (eighth) and Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso taking ninth.

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas completed the top ten as both Silver Arrows drivers managed to post an effort at the end of the session, with Bottas also going off at turn two on his final tour around.

Alfa Romeo Racing duo Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi ended FP1 in 11th and 12th on the time-sheets respectively as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll came in 13th.

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda was 14th and in-front of Aston Martin’s Vettel who finished opening practice in 15th and Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon who took 16th.

Williams Racing pairing George Russell and Nicholas Latifi were 17th and 18th respectively with Haas F1 Team duo Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin bringing up the rear.

Mazepin suffered a shunt into the wall after spinning off at turn 16 in the closing stages, but the Russian managed to return back to pit-lane while moments later Haas team-mate Schumacher went off at the turn four run-off area.

You can see the full Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2021/races/1068/azerbaijan/practice-1.html

#Formula1 #AzerbaijanGP 2021 Preview. #F1